In the aviation industry, pilots customarily report data on meteorological phenomena for the locations and altitudes through which they are flying. Many pilots communicate this information to designated collection points. In the United States, this information is sent by pilots in the form of Pilot Reports, or PIREPs, on designated VHF frequencies or by data link to one of the Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA's) ground facilities such as Flight Service Stations (FSS). The FAA collects this information and disseminates it in the form of alphanumeric bulletins via the National Weather Service (NWS) for usage such as preflight briefings. At preflight briefings, pilots can access NWS provided PIREPs and other meteorological information in several formats at its Aviation Digital Data Service website.
Enroute, however, when it is desirable to have the most current meteorological information, pilots can obtain PIREPs orally by contacting Flight Watch or FSSs, or in the form of alphanumeric messages if the aircraft is suitably equipped to receive and display data linked weather products. PIREPs include meteorological phenomena such as sky cover, visibility, temperature, winds, turbulence, and icing conditions. Also included in these reports are the time, location, altitude and identification and intensity of the meteorological condition. PIREPs are presently one of the best sources of current turbulence and icing conditions enroute and may sometimes be the only source of current weather conditions in-flight.
As can be easily understood, pilots who receive PIREPs orally may only retain limited information. For those who obtain the PIREPs in alphanumeric form, the abbreviated message format can be difficult to interpret and remember. For example, if visibility is of interest to the pilot at the time he receives the PIREP, it is possible that the pilot may retain only the visibility information of the PIREP. Therefore, while it is desirable for enroute pilots to obtain weather updates enough in advance to allow them to circumvent inclement weather conditions, the potential exists that a pilot may not have sufficient information for adverse weather conditions that may be encountered, even though he may have received PIREPs advising him of those conditions.
Avionics display units are situated in the cockpit to present information to pilots in various modes. Typically, the avionics display unit is capable of displaying a map background showing the pilot geographical information within a predetermined distance of the aircraft's current position. While localized information can be superimposed on the map background to present that information to the pilots at a useful time and place, PIREPs are presented to the pilots orally or via cryptic alphanumeric data linked messages. Furthermore, unlike other weather products disseminated by the NWS on a regularly scheduled basis for a fixed set of locations, the time and location of PIREPs varies. This non-regularity can make it difficult for pilots to be aware of the existence of a PIREP.
Accordingly, it is desirable to present the PIREP information in the cockpit in a manner more useful to pilots. What is needed, therefore, is an improved method and apparatus for presenting the PIREP information to the pilots more meaningfully. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.